Internet appliances have become an increasingly popular tool for accessing the Internet. For some consumers who are only interested in browsing the Internet and communicating electronic mail (e-mail), Internet appliances offer a low-cost alternative to relatively expensive personal computers. This option also appeals to users who already own a personal computer and want a secondary device for Internet access, for example, from a different location in the home. For many users for whom personal computers can be intimidating, Internet appliances offer a relatively simple to use alternative.
One feature of Internet appliances that enhances ease of use is a single window environment. In such an environment, the user is presented with a single full screen browser window, as contrasted with the multiple window environment presented by other conventional Internet browsers. The single, full-screen window environment allows the user to begin using the system quickly without first having to learn about window manipulation, e.g., positioning and sizing of windows.
While a single window environment simplifies use, it also presents limitations that impair usability in certain circumstances. For example, standard HTML allows a web developer to cause new browser windows to pop up, breaking this simplified user model. This feature can be used to open new browser windows either in response to some action on the part of the user, or without such user action. For example, a web developer can cause a pop-up advertisement to appear upon loading (entering) or unloading (exiting) a web page. On the other hand, certain applications, such as web-based e-mail, open new browser windows in response to user input, e.g., clicking on an “address book” link.
Many conventional Internet appliances that use a single window environment simply ignore all requests to open new browser windows in order to preserve the single window interface. This approach, however, leaves the user with a degraded experience of the web in which many pages that are critical to performing useful tasks do not appear. Accordingly, a need continues to exist for causing such pages to appear, while maintaining the simplicity of a single window environment.